Sunday, April 17, 2005

News Round-up, Sunday, Part I

This is the first of a few posts with stories from yesterday's and today's papers and wires. There are a few interesting pieces that I'll separate into other posts.

The AP looks into DeLay's first quarter fundraising and finds two interesting pieces: 1) his pace in bringing in funds has quickened over the first quarter in off-years past, and 2) he took out a $100,000 loan to cover expenses. Interesting development -- my conjecture is that last year's election was such a scare that he overextended the expenditures and put a significant amount on credit card or put off vendors, and when the bills came due, he just didn't have the cash on-hand. But that's just an educated guess. Why else would the Bugman, the bagman of Congress, need a loan? Cashflow is really the only logical answer.

Another interesting note is where he got some of the money: business PACs of some with a very compelling MBTE issue in the upcoming energy bill (Chron reporters, are you listening?), and funds from Bob Perry, one of the biggest homebuilders in Texas and a funder of the Swift Boat Vets attack campaign (WSJ reporter, are you reading?).

The Washington Post has a mention of the letter we helped circulate on Friday from ten former Republican House members.

DeLay spoke at the NRA Convention. Write-ups here and here and here and here. Side-stepped ethics issues, I guess. 100 to 200 protesters out front. Got a gun, and held it high with his cold, dead hands. (Note to Tom: We don't want your gun, we want you to tell the truth, and then resign.) Suggested that he needs heavily armed friends. Ho. Hum. Yawn.

Rick Klein of the Boston Globe has an overview of DeLay's power structure. (Congrats, Rick!)

The Day of New London, CT says that Rob Simmons should listen to, not object to, Chris Shays. Good advice. And probably one of the more politically potent, and overlooked, developments of the day. Mr. Simmons, you should read every single word.

The New Haven Register (no link) had an editorial yesterday (thanks JG for faxing) which ended on this ominous note for Simmons and other GOP reps:

But tying a candidate to DeLay's appalling record may prove a winning Democratic campaign strategy if Shays' fellow Republicans do not soon heed his advice and dump the majority leader.